MOSCOW, November 16 (Itar-Tass) — The Russian Investigative Committee (SK) has opened a criminal case of fraud in the fulfilment of a state contract concluded with the RF Defence Ministry, SK spokesman Vladimir Markin told Itar-Tass.

“The main military investigation department has opened a criminal case under the article ‘large-scale fraud’ against persons performing managerial functions in the Slavyanka OJSC and Bezopasnost and Svyaz (Security and Communications) CJSC, as well as against Defence Ministry officials,” Markin said.

He specified that at this point, in accordance with Article 91 of the RF Code of Criminal Procedure, Director General of Slavyanka OJSC, the founder of Security and Communications, Alexander Yelkin, as well as Yulia Rotanova who was in fact Assistant Director General of Security and Communications, have been detained.

In December 2010, the Russian Defence Ministry and the joint-stock company Security and Communications concluded the state contract on the provision of comprehensive services of maintenance of the ministry’s buildings and structures. “In accordance with the contract, the commercial organisation undertook in the 2011-2012 period to conduct comprehensive servicing of the engineering systems, cleaning the building’s interior, as well as the adjacent territory,” Markin said.

Among the facilities to which the services spread was also the building at 14, Kolymazhny Lane. Under another state contract, in the period from February 2011 to July 2012 the in this building was undergoing major repairs with dismantling of all engineering systems.

“Despite the fact that during the specified period no work for the building’s maintenance was carried out, the officials of the Ministry of Defence, Slavyanka CJSC and Security and Communication were signing fictitious acts of acceptance and invoices based on which more than 52.6 million roubles were unlawfully transferred to the businessmen,” Markin said.

Searches of the places of residence and employment of the managers of the Slavyanka CJSC, Security and Communication, as well as officials of the Ministry of Defence were conducted within the criminal case. “Numerous documents relevant to the case, including electronic media and documents of title to real estate were confiscated. About 4.6 million US dollars, as well as nearly 130 million roubles were confiscated from numerous safe-deposit boxes opened in the name of Rotanova and her family members,” Markin concluded.